Abstract

The optical properties and carrier relaxation kinetics of core/shell nanocrystals with compositional phase separation occurring on a size scale were examined with time-resolvedcathodoluminescence(CL)spectroscopy and imaging. The CL spectral lineshape was found to depend on the level of excitation, temperature, and the time-window during time-delayed spectroscopy. The kinetics of carrier thermalization and transfer between Cd-rich phase-separated regions and the homogenous ZnCdSe alloy were examined. We show that the rare phenomenon of compositional phase separation in II-VInanocrystals leads to interesting and potentially useful optical properties.